


The Taste of Rain

by myaekingheart



Series: The Scarecrow and the Bell [3]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Depression, F/M, Grief/Mourning, Hopeful Ending, One Shot, Rain, all the feels
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-02
Updated: 2020-04-02
Packaged: 2021-03-01 05:20:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 833
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23449927
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/myaekingheart/pseuds/myaekingheart
Summary: If only the rain could cleanse you of your sins, but instead there is only her. The thunder to your lightning, the pounding strength that encourages you onward. And maybe that's okay. Maybe that will suffice.(Standalone companion piece to The Scarecrow and the Bell)
Relationships: Hatake Kakashi/Natsuki Rei, Hatake Kakashi/Original Female Character(s)
Series: The Scarecrow and the Bell [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1913203
Comments: 6
Kudos: 20





	The Taste of Rain

**Author's Note:**

> Written for April's one-word prompt event for the Kakashi Lounge Discord Server, April Showers.  
> Kakashi + Rain + anything goes

Kakashi tilted his head back and closed his eyes. He had been at this for hours. He thought he would feel resolved by now but it seemed that the longer he stayed there, the worse he felt. His grief, like a weighted blanket, tangled itself around his body, making it difficult to breathe. He heard footsteps slosh against the wet ground behind him but paid them no mind. It was likely just another mourner on their way to pay their respects. Inconsequential. They would regard themselves with the same polite civility that he regarded everyone else in the village. The rain poured on.

He pressed his palm to the names inscribed on the memorial, his index finger paying special attention to that of Obito. It had been so long. Kakashi wondered if there was an afterlife and if there was, if Obito was watching everything unfold from the beyond. Watching Kakashi ruin yet another team of impressionable young minds. He assumed this was only karma. He seemed to have a way with accidentally ruining Uchihas. If the clan was still alive, he wondered, would they accept him as one of their own? It was a stupid thought, really. His sharingan did not belong to him. It was merely a token, a temporary. Something to return when the time was right. But Obito was never coming back.

Ice slid down Kakashi’s spine as he noticed a familiar chakra signature approaching, heavy eyes cast on his back. And then the rain stopped and everything grew dark and Kakashi wondered if somehow his sulking had landed him on the stairway to hell. Surely the ground beneath Obito’s grave was destined to rip open and suck him into the inferno. It was where he belonged, anyway. He wondered if it was possible to bargain with the devil, trade his soul for that of Obito and Rin. They deserved it more than he did. He would’ve gladly given his life if it meant bringing them back.

“You’ll catch pneumonia if you stay out here any longer” a soft voice murmured. It was then that Kakashi realized the reality of the situation. He was admittedly mildly disappointed that he was not about to die. He looked up and saw Rei, her face somber and pale. She held an umbrella above his head, shielding him from the unforgiving rain. A clap of thunder sounded in the distance.

“How did you—” he started, but she quickly cut him off.

“It’s where you always are” she whispered. She extended a hand and he took it automatically, guiding him onto his feet. He took the umbrella in the process—it only made sense, he was roughly a foot taller than she was. “Let’s go home” she said, resting a comforting hand on his chest. He could not bring himself to protest.

As they walked on, feet sloshing against the puddles in the street, Kakashi peered back at the cemetery and sighed. None of this seemed very fair. Why did he get a happy ending when all they received was death? And by his own fault, at that? But then he looked to Rei, the way her fingers intertwined with his, the scar across the bridge of her nose and gleam of her eyes. Maybe that was the whole explanation, maybe she was the reason he could not die. Not yet. He had unfinished business to attend to. He had made a promise so many years ago that he did not intend to abandon.

When he paused in the street, Rei turned back to look at him quizzically but there was a strange expression on his face that worried her. “What…?” she asked, digging her nails into her palms. Her heart surged in her chest and the rain began soaking her hair, her long bangs sticking to the side of her face.

Kakashi stared at her for a moment longer, surveying every little detail. Standing before her now, he could hardly believe that he had managed to stay away from her for so many years. He could hardly believe he had ever humored death, considered abandoning her. Like a swift punch to the gut, he understood now that that was impossible. That the thoughts in his head a mere ten minutes ago were so outrageous, so bizarre, so selfish. The past would forever haunt him, but he could not let that taint the possibility of his future. Without another word, he dropped the umbrella and stepped forward, tucking the hair back out of her face. He pressed his forehead against hers and his lips itched to kiss her but now was not the time. This was too public. He would have to wait until they were home. He would just have to settle for this one single moment, cupping her cheek in the pouring rain. A bolt of lightning flashed in the distance. The weighted blanket, that overbearing grief, slowly began to melt away and for once, maybe everything was going to be okay.


End file.
